Verona Borough Council Notebook: Work Session Meeting

Here's a roundup of what was covered at Verona's Sept. 27 work session:

Recycling Bins to Move

As they continue to work to keep Verona beautiful, borugh officials are moving recycling bins out of the line of sight and to the back corner of the paved lot behind the borough offices.

The bins—receptables for Boy Scout can and paper collections as well as a bin for all recyclables from the borough's trash collector Waste Managment— are in a similar area now, but currently visible from Allegheny River Boulevard, according to officials.

"They're so unsightly looking entering Verona," Councilwoman Rhoda Gemellas-Worf said. "It just looks very busy."

Moving the bins and neatly arranging them will also make it easier for Waste Management to pick up the recycling with its automated trucks.

"Trucks can then pull in and back out," Councilman Pat McCarthy said.

The bins are often full because of the positive response from residents, officials said. Waste Management has indicated that it will increase its pickups because of the demand.

Councilwoman Patty Suchevich suggested that a sign be added so that people know the bins have moved and where to take their recycling.

The move was also suggested by a study presented to the Verona Progress Group, Gemellas-Worf said.

"I think it will make a positive difference," she said.

Money for Radios

Officials agreed to give the borough's volunteer fire department money from a firetruck fund to purchase new radios.

All voted in favor of the move.

Most of the money, Suchevich said, came from the borough's Fall Festival.

"That's four or five-thousand dollars we don't have to come up with," she said.

Last month, council voted in favor of helping the volunteer fire department to purchase the radios, which its members say are needed to comply with upcoming Federal Communication Commission changes.

Those changes will take effect January 2013.

Street Repairs

Officials also voted in favor of repairs to an alley in the borough's 700 block between Second and Third Streets, which will cost $8,000 and another $4,000 in repairs to the alley behind Napa Auto Parts.

The work will be done by the borough and is contingent upon assurance that nothing else in terms of major road work is going on, officials said.

James Street Railroad Crossing

Officials are working with the Pennsylvania Utitlity Commission to repair the James Street Railroad Crossing.

Mayor David Ricupero recently met with PUC officials to discuss the condition of the tracks, which he said are in disrepair.

He expressed concerned over the state of the tracks due to the proximity to the borough's A. J. Demor Towers senior high rise. Its residents often have to cross the tracks at James Street when they walk around the borough.